


Desperate Situation

by MissIF



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Short One Shot, a short insight to this AU, now with better grammar, wrote this when I was 17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-07-24 16:04:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16178480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissIF/pseuds/MissIF
Summary: AU where Ichigo is being raised by Urahara and the Visordes. When Ichigo stays over at the Visordes safehouse, an uninvited guest drops in to cause trouble.





	1. First Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> You know that second-hand embarrassment feeling you get when you look at old art or stories and know you loved making it originally but now you can see all the mistakes and errors but it's too late to change anything so you have to live with it?
> 
> This is what this story is to me, only now with better grammar and sentence structure.
> 
> Enjoy the ghost of my writing past.

It was the first time in the human world for Ms. Kuchiki Rukia. As a newly seated officer she was now enabled to go on missions with highly seated officers, such as Captains and Lieutenants. Right now she was traveling with her captain, Ukitake Joshiro, and her best friend, Abarai Renji, who was the newest lieutenant of sixth company. Their destination was a small town in Japan named Karakura, apparently a concentrated area for shinigami and hollows alike with its abnormal abundance of spiritual energy. There was no current shinigami stationed in Karakura, though it was under close watch by the Soul Society. It would be her first time to the human world, so she had brought her Chappy styled phone to take maybe a picture or two.

"We're only going for some supplies, so we won't be there for long anyway." Ukitake-taichou had told her. She brought the phone anyway, ignoring Renji's joke about the rabbit. They exited the senkaimon, landing gracefully on the paved road. Rukia took in everything her eyes could see. The strange buildings, the tall poles with plastic on the ends, and the fast and loud metal box things humans were driving around in. Ukitake-taichou and Renji passes by it all without a second glance.

"It's not much." Renji said and followed the captain. Rukia followed shortly, stopping to take a picture before flash-stepping after her captain. It took them two minutes to reach their destination. It was near the outskirts of the town, in the more deserted area away from the larger roads and buildings. Rukia thought it must have been a joke.

"What is this place?"

Ukitake smiled at her but didn't answer. Instead he continued on towards the shop. Rukia read the sign, 'Urahara's Candy Shop'. It looked like nothing special. Just a run down little convenience shop. Why was Ukitake-taichou leading them here? Luckily Renji looked just as confused as she was.

"Why is Ukitake-taichou going to a candy shop?" she asked him.

"Your guess is as good as mine." He replied. They followed their superior closer to the shop. Outside the small building was a boy sweeping dirt with a broom. He was human, maybe ten or nine to Rukia's eyes, wearing an employee apron over his jeans and gray t-shirt. What struck Rukia about him was his unusual orange hair. Ukitake-taichou walked up to the boy and patted him on the head, smiling at him as if they were familiar.

That took Rukia aback. No human can see a shinigami, let alone communicate or touch one. Yet this boy could obviously see and feel Ukitake-taichou touching his head.

"Good morning Kurosaki-kun. My, you have gotten big. You must be at least seven now."

The boy, Kurosaki, half smiled back at Ukitake-taichou. "I'm eleven now, Ukitake-san."

"Ah, of course! Sorry. I'm so old I have a hard time remembering some things. Do you know where I can find Urahara-san?"

Kurosaki pointed inside the shop. "He's probably asleep inside. Just kick him and he'll wake up. That's what Yoruichi-sensei does."

Ukitake laughed and thanked the boy before entering the shop. Renji and Rukia walked to follow him, but Renji stopped to talk and poke the boy.

"Hey kid! So you can really see us, huh?"

"Who the heck are you?" the boy said with a sour face.

A vein appeared on Renji's forehead. "Is that how you address your elders and superiors, kid?"

The boy stuck his tongue out at Renji. "If you're here with Ukitake-san then he already went inside. So, stop bothering me." and he continued sweeping which pissed Renji off even more. Rukia decided to intervene before Renji got too excited.

"I'm Kuchiki Rukia, this is Abarai Renji. We are officers of the 13 Court Guard."

The child looked her up and down, a hint of hesitation in his brown eyes. "Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Ichigo?" Both Renji and Rukia said in unison.

"Yeah, okay!? And it doesn't mean strawberry!"

Rukia was having a hard time not laughing out loud with Renji. A boy with orange hair named strawberry? It was very funny but as a noble Rukia was taught not to laugh at names and insult someone, even if their name was adorable. Ichigo yelled at them to stop laughing, which made them laugh more, until a sing-songy voice called from inside the shop.

"Ichi~! Would you come inside for a moment?"

Ichigo fumed and ran inside the shop, eager to get away from the laughing shinigami. Once Rukia calmed down she dragged Renji with her inside the shop, finding rows of organized and unrecognizable sweets. At the back of the shop was another level, only a foot off the floor, with a pillow and cash register. Behind the cash register, sitting cross-legged on the pillow was a blond man in green robes, sandals, and a white and green hat covering his eyes. He was waving a fan in his face as he chatted with Ukitake-taichou, while Ichigo stood behind him against the wall with a scowl on his small face.

"Ah~!" The strange man sang and waved his fan at the pair. "You must be Kuchiki-san and Abarai-san! Ukitake-san just mentioned you. First time in the human world, eh? Must be quite different than your Seireitei."

Ukitake-taichou smiled and took the tea the strange man offered him. "Kuchiki-san, Abarai-san this is Urahara-san. He owns this shop and supplies products to passing shinigami. He also makes one of the key ingredients to my medication. And his young friend here is Kurosaki-kun."

"Strawberry," Renji whispered. Rukia hit him in the gut, forcing him to bow.

"It is very nice to meet you Urahara-san."

Urahara smiled and turned to the boy, "Ichigo, would you go get Ukitake-san's order? It's in the back on the shelf."

"Okay." Ichigo bowed politely then left the room.

The two older man watch the boy leave before getting back to their conversation.

"He sure has grown up. His spiritual energy has become quite strong." Ukitake-taichou said to the shopkeeper.

"Yep. Seems like only yesterday he was knee high and babbling on about how the lost spirits would pick on him. Time sure does fly, doesn't it?"

Ukitake-taichou smiled and looked at Rukia and Renji, "You two can go explore the city if you want, or you can stay here and chat. You don't mind, Urahara-san?"

"No, no. If they want they can follow Ichi around or go explore. Just stay away from the storage ports. Feel free to send any spirits to Soul Society as well. Ichigo can give you the tour."

Before either could interject about what they wanted to do, Ichigo returned with a small bag and handed it to Ukitake-taichou.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun."

"No problem. Bye!" Before Ichigo could run off Urahara grabbed his apron.

"Ichigo I have a special job for you today. You get to show these nice shinigami around Karakura!"

"What!? No way! You said I could have the rest of the day off today!"

"You can play with your friends later. I'm sure they'll understand. Just keep them away from the warehouses."

Ichigo tugged the apron out of the man's grip and sighed. "Fine. But what about Yoruichi-sensei? She said-"

"Don't worry about that. Now shoo."

Ichigo pulled off the apron and threw it on Urahara's head, then jumped off the ledge and walked past Rukia and Renji, "Come on."

A glance at Ukitake-taichou made Rukia and Renji follow the boy out of the shop and into the streets of Karakura Town. They followed the boy, who pointed out random things such as other shops and a school yard.

"So, what's in the storage district?" Renji asked out loud.

Ichigo looked up at him as they cross a street. "What?"

"The storage place that weird guy we couldn't go to. What's there?"

Ichigo shrugged, "Not much, mostly just storage buildings and old airplane hangers. Nobody lives out there or anything. But it's fun to play around. Sometimes me and my friends go out there."

A passerby stared at Ichigo as he walked by, whispering something to her friend as they walked past the trio. Rukia noticed other men and women staring at Ichigo with critical looks, one man even pointed at the boy and loudly called him a freak.

"Just ignore them. They can't see you or spirits so they probably think I'm talking to myself." Ichigo told them while looking at the ground.

"Well that's just mean. You're just a kid. I thought kids made up stuff all the time, what makes you so different?" Renji said sourly. Rukia agreed. They both grew up in some pretty harsh environments and could relate to what Ichigo was going through. Something was bothering Rukia about the boy. No ordinary human could see or hear shinigami, and he did seem to possess some spiritual abilities, but there was also a strange feeling in his spirit energy.

"How are you able to see shinigami anyway? No ordinary human is able to see us, and you seem pretty comfortable with Ukitake-taichou."

"I've been able to see spirits since before I can remember. My dad said I was born special and that's why I can see you guys. Ukitake-san has been coming to Urahara-san's since before I started living there, which was a couple of years ago. He always tries to give me candy or something."

That sounded like Ukitake-taichou. He loved children and bothered Hitsugaya-taicho to no end about sweets, and Rukia could see why he loved Ichigo so much. The boy was, if she were forced to admit it, rather cute. The way he spoke about his father and living at Urahara's though, held a strong sadness in his tone. Rukia knew that tone. It was the same tone she talked in when she mentioned Kaien-fukutaicho or her old Rukongai friends. Urahara must have been very close to Ichigo's family to have taken him in.

"You must get pretty lonely with only spirits or that Urahara guy to talk to." Renji casually said, putting his hands behind his head.

Ichigo shrugged. "Nah. I have some friends from school who are almost as crazy as Urahara. Plus Tessai is really nice and is a good listener. Spirits don't really talk much but if I'm ever desperate I can always talk to Zan-Zan or Shiro."

"Who?"

Ichigo's face went red as he realized he probably should not have said that. "Uhh, nobody. Just some people I know." He lead them back to Urahara's, where Ukitake-taichou was talking to said man outside the shop.

"Ah~! Ichigo-kun!" Urahara waved his fan at them. "Did you all have a good time? Ichi-kun didn't show you anything boring did he?"

Ichigo walked up to stand next to Urahara, a scowl present on his face. Renji and Rukia walked up to Ukitake-taichou, Rukia offering to take the bag of medicine off the sickly captains hands.

"It's fine, Kuchiki-san. I'm not sick enough so I can't carry something as small as this." He told her. "Thank you again, Urahara-san." Ukitake-taichou bowed slightly to show his gratitude.

Urahara continued to waved his paper fan, a large smile on his face. "No problem, Ukitake-taichou. Anything for my favorite captain. Just as long as you keep this our little secret. I hope your officers enjoyed their trip! Maybe even enough so they come back and buy something next time, eh?"

Rukia and Renji deadpanned at the mans obvious attempt to guilt them into spending money. Ukitake-taichou, however, merely smiled and opened a senkimon. "Rukia-san, Renji-san are you two ready to go?"

"Actually-" Urahara intervened. "I would like a word with them, if you don't mind Ukitake-taichou."

Ukitake-taichou nodded and motioned for Renji and Rukia to follow the man.

Urahara looked at Ichigo, "Shouldn't you be at Hirako-san's right now? You don't want Hiyori-san to get upset about you being late do you?"

The boy paled and, with a quick goodbye, ran off, leaving Renji and Rukia to follow Urahara into his shop. Once the door was closed by a very tall man with glasses, a thick moustache and strangely styled hair wearing an apron, Urahara turned to the two shinigami officers.

"After you return to Soul Society I'm going to have to have you swear that you will never speak of Ichigo or this shop to anyone."

"Why? Is this place illegal or something?" Renji asked rudely.

"Nope. It's just a simple candy shop. But I'm afraid your head captain doesn't really care for me and it would be troublesome for both Ukitake-san and Unohana-san if their boss found out where some of their more scarce supplies come from."

"Okay," Rukia agreed. She did not want to cause Ukitake-taichou or Unohana-taichou any trouble. "But why lie about Kurosaki? He's just a human boy. Why would anyone care if we talk about him?"

"Yes Ichigo-kun is human, but since he works for me and has been placed in my care I would be grateful if nobody in your organization knew about him. Call it a protective instinct over him. No harm done I just don't feel comfortable with the idea that every shinigami knows a human boy is aware of shinigami."

Rukia caught on what Urahara was saying. "If the Soul Society knew a human had enough spiritual power to see and interact with shinigami, then some may take an unwanted interest in him. That might put him in danger."

Urahara touched his nose. "Yep. So if you don't mind, please keep your mouths shut. That's all! Bye bye~!"

Once the shinigami had left, Urahara returned to his shop, followed by a black cat.

"How long are you going to keep putting the boy in danger, Kisuke?" the feline asked, it's voice remarkably deep and masculine for such a small animal.

"I trust Ukitake-san will keep his end of the deal, and those two would not dare go against an old captain and a simple shop keepers wishes."

"And what if  _he_  notices? That seal of yours is not going to hide it forever. The girl noticed it, just like Ukitake did."

Urahara sat on the pillow behind the cash register. "We'll deal with it when the time comes. Besides, that's why we have Hirako-san and his friends."


	2. Chapter 2

Shinji watched with a bored expression as the Hiyori threw another chair at Ichigo. The boy dodged expertly, being used to Hiyori's tantrums. Everyone else watched from different parts of the warehouse. Lisa was sitting on a large piece of concrete, reading her dirty magazines that Love like to borrow every now and then. Shinji laughed as he remembered when Ichigo once asked what they were reading and Hachi had to cover his ears and eyes before Lisa could tell him. Said Kido master was currently resting in the corner of the warehouse, his eyes closed and sitting in a lotus-style position. Love was on the couch, reading a manga while Rose was out getting lunch. Mashiro was annoying Kensei as usual, the bigger man trying his best to ignore her. It was only a matter of time before he snapped and Mashiro started picking on Ichigo.

"You're not finished yet!" Hiyori yelled as she grabbed the collar of Ichigo's shirt, pulling the boy back as he tried to escape the short woman's wrath. "You still have five minutes left! Where do you think you're going!?"

"I'm getting away from you! You're even crazier than usual!" Ichigo retaliated, trying to tug his shirt out of the woman's grasp. Hiyori was having none of it, and dragged the boy back to the chair she had chained him to earlier. Once Ichigo was back in his chair, Hiyori pointed her finger at him and yelled,

"Now keep practicing! You're gonna sit there till your butts bleeds or you can form a cero!"

"But every time I try it just blows up in my face!"

"Are you going against your sensei?! Do you want me beat you instead!?"

Ichigo threw his arms up to protect his face, "No! I'll practice, okay! Just stop hitting me with your gross sandal!"

"Hachi!" the short woman yelled. "Put up a force field around baldy! And keep him in it until I say let him out!"

"What!? You just said until-"

"Keep practicing! Brat!"

Ichigo grumbled and sat in the chair, concentrating on the tiny red ball slowly forming in his hands, as yellow tinged translucent walls formed around him. Hiyori walked away from the grumbling child and sat next to Shinji, picking at her teeth.

"He's getting better at it." Shinji commented.

"He's still a brat."

Mashiro strolled over to the force field and started banging on it, "Hey Ichi~! You look like a little fish in there! Can you hear me! Hey! HEy! Ichi! Ichiiiiiiigo!"

The small cero Ichigo had been trying to form exploded, causing the boy to fall off the chair. "Mashiro! You made me lose concentration!"

"But I'm bored and you look so funny!" Mashiro began to laugh at Ichigo's appearance, the small blast scorching his face and making his hair stand up. The others tried not to laugh at the boys silly appearance while Mashiro fell to the floor in a spasm of giggles.

"Shut up! It's not that funny!" Ichigo yelled at her, trying to break down the force field stopping him from attacking the woman. Mashiro only continued to laugh harder.

Rose walked into the warehouse with boxes full of food, stopping in front of Shinji and observing the squabbling children. He handed a box of hot food to Shinji,

"It seems Mashiro is distracting Ichigo once again."

Shinji looked through the box as he searched for his meal, "At least she's not bothering us."

"Mashiro!" Rose called. "Lunch is here!"

The green haired girl jumped, "Yay! Food!" and ran over to her fellow Visoreds, leaving Ichigo alone in his yellow box.

"Wait you're all going to eat while I just sit here!?" the boy yelled loud enough so everyone could hear him through the force field, his small fists raised and his face red.

Hiyori yelled at him with a shrimp in her mouth, "Keep practicing baldy!"

The eleven year old huffed and took a seat on the floor, his back turned to the older Visordes as he continued his attempts at creating a cero. He argued to himself occasionally, telling nothing to 'stop laughing at him'. Everyone knew exactly who Ichigo was talking to.

When Ichigo put his hands on his temples and started growling in frustration, Shinji walked over with his box lunch and tapped on the kido surrounding the boy.

"Oi. He giving you trouble again, Ichi?"

"Yes!" Ichigo yelled throwing his hands in the air. He stood up and looked at Shinji, "He won't shut up and keeps telling me that I'm doing it all wrong and that he wants food and won't stop complaining!"

"Have you asked for any suggestions?"

"Yeah but all his ideas are stupid."

"What about Zangetsu? He any help?"

Ichigo crossed his arms. "No. He just stands there and looks at me funny. Why that old man's so stoic is beyond me." He sat on the ground and crossed his legs, scowling at the floor like it was the cause of all his troubles.

Shinji sighed loudly and dramatically. Ichigo was always being tormented by his inner hollow. The hollow would bother the boy constantly and Ichigo sometimes forgot that nobody but him could hear the hollow and spoke to it out loud. It wasn't a hollow like Shinji's or Hachi's or Hiyori's, theirs had all become a part of them when they had gained the ability to hollowfy. That was far beyond Ichigo at the time though. So they had to put up with Ichigo yelling at nothing sometimes. Apparently, his hollow was as childish as he was and looked exactly the same as Ichigo, only albino and a lot meaner. Ichigo had gotten far to used to the hollow and had even given it a name, Shiro, since he wasn't very good with names and had come up with it before he met Shinji and the Visoreds.

The blond man mused at the boy's tantrum. He remembered when Kisuke had introduced them to the boy for the first time, barely seven years old and as shy as it got, he clung to Yoruichi and had nearly screamed when Shinji introduced him to the rest of the Visoreds. Not that he blamed the boy, Hiyori was not very good with first impressions and had tried to get the kid to fight her to test his strength. Why the woman wanted to fight a seven year old was a mystery to Shinji even today, obviously she had no control over herself.

"Oi! Hachi!" Shinji called to the large man. "Open up this force field."

Hachigen nodded and with a snap the blockade was gone and Ichigo practically ran to his lunch, taking the boxed food from Rose with a 'thanks'. Hiyori said nothing but scowled at Shinji as she stuffed her face with rice and shrimp. Ichigo took a spot on the floor near Kensei and dug into his food eagerly. With luck he would finish before Hiyori and the tiny woman sent him back to work. The group ate their lunch in quiet, enjoying the short-lived silence that rarely came across them. Mashiro finished first, speeding right through her food and began goofing off with Ichigo, the two telling jokes and Mashiro insisting on feeding Ichigo herself then stuffing food into his mouth. She then suggested tag and the two began playing around the warehouse in mixes of running and shunpo. It got even worse for everyone else when Mashiro stole Zangetsu, Ichigo's abnormally large and knife-shaped zanpakuto, which made Ichigo angry as he claimed the weapon did not enjoy being played with and would be mad at him later. Mashiro did not care and ran around swinging the sword as Ichigo ran after her, the two dodging the rest of the Visoreds as they played. It amazed Shinji that even though Mashiro was a full grown woman and his age, well over 200 years, she still acted like a child. It was fun for Ichigo, he guessed, having someone with the same mental capacity as him.

"Whaaaaaaa! Kensei! Protect me!" Mashiro screamed and ran headfirst into Kensei's chest, Ichigo having no time to slow down as he ran into the two. The trio toppling over in a fit of limbs as Ichigo tried to grab Zangetsu from Mashiro while the girl hid behind Kensei. Kensei was never one to hit kids but he did not have enough patience to put up with the two climbing all over him and grabbed Ichigo by the hair and Mashiro by the sword in her hands, Mashiro still hanging onto the weapon. While Ichigo struggled to get out of Kensei's stone-like grip, the man yelled at Mashiro,

"How many times! I always have to tell you to stop using me as a shield! You are a full grown woman, act like it! And let go of the stupid sword!"

"Don't call Zangetsu stupid it'll make him cranky!"

"WAAA! Kensei is so mean to me!"

"Let go damn it!"

"You're gonna ripe the binding! Ow! Kensei let go of my hair!"

"Stop struggling and let go of my arm!"

"Kensei is so mean! Bad Kensei!"

Shinji watched with a blank look as the three bickered, then felt a buzz in his pocket as his cell phone went off. "Hello?" he answered.

Love watched as Kensei tried to shake Mashiro off his arm, "Never a moment's peace with those three, huh?"

"Not very graceful for a man who used to be a captain." Rose agreed. Lisa and Hachi watched with slightly amused looks while Hiyori held herself back from joining the bickering. The noise was unbearable and getting on her nerves as the three continued to yell until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Will you shut up!" she threw her sandal at Kensei, only for the man to use Ichigo as a shield.

Ichigo held his nose as it bled, "What the hell did I do?"

"You started it baldy!"

"No I didn't! Mashiro did!"

"Ichi how could you!"

"Get off me! Hiyori you are not helping!"

"I'm trying to punish my student but you're still holding his head!"

"Why are you punishing me!?"

"WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP!?" Shinji screamed over the yelling. Everyone went silent and stared at the blond man.

"Finally. I could barely hear myself think." he put the phone away in his pocket. "I got a call from Urahara. He and Yoruichi are going out so Ichigo is staying here."

"What!" the strawberry yelled. Kensei dropped him and the boy ran over to Shinji. "No way! I'm not staying here! Hiyori will wake me up at dawn and throw stuff at me like last time!"

"Too bad. Tessi is going with them so there's nobody at the shop to watch you."

"I'm not a baby I don't need to be watched!"

"You're only ten."

"I'm eleven! And I've stayed home alone at the shop dozens of times. Why is this so different?"

"'Cause Kisuke said so. Explicit orders that you are to remain in this house until he or Yoruichi pick you up."

"Aw man!" Ichigo whined. Shinji patted him on the head in a sarcastic manner. Kisuke had said they should be back in two days and it would either be him or Yoruichi or they would send someone, most likely Tessai, to pick Ichigo up from the Visoreds.

"What about school?" he asked.

Shinji shrugged. "We'll go pick up some of your stuff later. Let's just finish lunch. I'm hungry."

"You just ate!"

Ichigo walked with his school bag beside Mashiro. The two chatting away as Shinji and Love followed. Love was holding Ichigo's overnight bag while Shinji held onto the shop key. After lunch the four had left to get Ichigo's things, only Mashiro and Love had volunteering to join Shinji and Ichigo. Hiyori had blatantly told Ichigo to go by himself but Shinji knew better than to let the trouble some boy off on his own. Ichigo had the spiritual energy of a captain and it was bound to get stronger as he matured. His hollow side only made it worse and Shinji still had nightmares about the hollows that had nearly eaten the tiny, unsuspecting toddler.

Somehow the kid had been born with an inner hollow. Kisuke knew about it but was reluctant to tell Shinji and the others. All Shinji knew was that Ichigo's father had been a very strong shinigami and his mother was human. That left Ichigo an enigma. And an orphan. When Ichigo was six his whole family was wiped out by a 'gas fire' that blew up the house and everyone in it. Shinji wasn't stupid though. Neither was Kisuke Urahara. No mere fire could have killed Isshin Kurosaki and his wife. Kisuke had seen the bodies and found leftover traces of spiritual energy. He later took custody of Ichigo but never told the boy. Shinji had made that same promise when they discovered who's energy it had been, questioning to this day why the fifth squad captain had gone all the way from Soul Society to Karakura just to orphan some poor kid.

Love laughed as Mashiro stole Ichigo's school bag and began running with it, the boy chasing after her.

"Where do they get all that energy, huh?" Love said. "Makes me feel old."

Shinji shrugged. "Kids have a lot of energy, I guess. Don't ask me." He looked at his watch. It was nearly nine and they were still two blocks away from the hideout. Yoruichi had strict orders that Ichigo's bed time was nine o'clock sharp. If he was still out and running around town in the dark, Shinji was sure the Flash Goddess would find out and throw a fit and blame him. He told Love to go ahead with Mashiro, the taller man nodding and flash stepping to grab Mashiro and disappear. Shinji followed suit as soon as he grabbed Ichigo around the waist. They arrived in front of the hideout in a matter of seconds, just two minutes before the deadline.

"Brush your teeth then hit the hay." Shinji ordered the boy.

"I'm not even tired." Ichigo said before a yawn escaped his lips. Love handed him his bag and walked with the boy into the house, leading him to the back rooms where all the Visoreds slept. Shinji found the others laid out on the couch in front of the TV. It was a weird cartoon that made no sense to him. Why any human would give up their soul to a strange cat-like thing was beyond his understanding. Hiyori seemed to like it though.

* * *

Ichigo sat bored to death in his school classroom, having already finished the homework his teacher had handed out, he opted for starring out the window wondering where his adopted family had gone to and why it was so important they didn't bring him along. His thoughts were interrupted by someone setting a book on his desk.

"What do you want Ishida?"

The raven haired boy pushed his glasses so they would not fall off his face. "I heard Urahara left town. Why are you here?"

"None of your business." Ichigo said in return and turned away from his classmate. Ishida Uryu, however was having none of Kurosaki Ichigo's bull.

"So who are you staying with?"

"What?"

"Do you not have ears or something? I asked you who you're staying with since Urahara is out of town."

"How do you know Kisuke is out of town? Maybe he just went shopping for the day."

Uryu was about to tell Ichigo that he knew because there was a seven foot tall sign in front of the shop when a book hit the orangette in the head.

"OW! Who threw that!?"

"I did!"

Tatsuki Arisawa, a black haired girl with an attitude bigger that her head and currently the most dangerous student at Karakura middle school. She threw around teenagers twice her size and was a constant reminder to Ichigo that he was not to get into trouble, though he often did anyway. Tatsuki walked over to Ichigo and again, hit him in the head with her school book.

"Why didn't you tell me Urahara was away!? Who are you staying with if he's not home and you're here!?" she yelled and gripped his shirt collar.

Ichigo, suffering from blood loss and minor concussion via book, tried not to stutter as he answered her question. "Okay! He went out on some trip or something! It's just till tomorrow!"

"So who are you staying with?"

"Just some friends of his. Tatsuki, I can't breath!" Ichigo's face began turning red to prove is point. Tatsuki released her hold on Ichigo and went back over to her friend, Inoue Orihime, and started a conversation while Orihime stared open mouthed as Ichigo fell to the floor in strangled gaspes. Tatsuki stared at Ichigo the rest of the day, watching his every move like a cat preparing to pounce on it's prey. She and Ichigo had been best friends since pre-school and after his family died he had been staying with that weirdo shopkeeper. Ichigo had been different since then. She once caught him talking to a wall and demanded to know what he was doing. Ichigo told her, stupidly, that he had been talking to a ghost. Tatsuki of course brushed it off as weird boy stuff, but gradually she began to see spirits as well. Not clearly enough to make out faces but she could see their shapes and hear them whispering. Weirder still was that once Orihime, Tatsuki's best girl friend whom she vowed to protect from gross boys, and Chad, a transfer student from Mexico and Ichigo's newest friend, all started hanging around Ichigo they too could make out funny glowing shapes and strange voices. Tatsuki knew, even if he denied it every time, that Uryu could see the spirits as well.

That's why she and Orihime decided to follow Ichigo home that day. It wasn't being creepy, she was just worried that Ichigo was staying with weird-o's.

After class Ichigo was talking with Chad and Keigo about going to the park later, but another kid interrupted loudly.

"Hey! Who's that?" he was pointing out the window and the whole class went to look. Tatsuki saw a blond man wearing weird clothes that she'd seen her parents in in old pictures. With him was a green haired girl in a jumpsuit and goggles. She was waving up at the class and screaming,

"Berry-tan! WE ARE HERE TO GET YOU!"

Tatsuki saw Ichigo pale and hit his head on a desk. "Ichigo do you know them?"

Ichigo hit his head again. "Yes..."

"BERRY BOY! COME ON! WE'RE WAITING FOR YOU!"

Again, Ichigo hit his head on the desk, then grabbed his backpack and ran out of the class. Everyone watched as he appeared outside the school running towards the blond man and yelling girl. The girl jumped him and brought him into a hug while Ichigo retaliated and began yelling at the two, waving his fists in the air. The blond man waved him off and began walking away, forcing Ichigo and the weird girl to follow. Tatsuki knew it, Ichigo was living with more weird-o's.

Guess she wouldn't have to follow them after all.

* * *

Ichigo had come home sour. Of course Mashiro had screamed at the whole school and called him Berry Boy so he was sour for good reason. He refused to talk to Mashiro and stayed in his room, door locked, for the rest of the evening. Shinji figured he was plotting some kind of revenge. Mashiro did not like being left out and sulked because Ichigo wouldn't play with her.

"Well then you shouldn't have embarrassed him like that." Kensei scolded her. Mashiro whined that she had only been excited to see the school.

Lisa rubbed her temples. "When did Urahara say he'd be back? Babysitting gives me headaches."

"Tomorrow," Shinji said listening to jazz on his record player. A chill went up his spine for a split second. "Anyone else feel that?"

"Feel what?"

Shinji shook his head, "Never mind."  _Must have been a small breeze._ He disregarded the strange feeling and focused on his music, decided that he would get Rose to show Ichigo how to cook their dinner.

Later that night, after a burnt chicken dinner (Ichigo needed practice handling a stove as he nearly burnt down the kitchen) the Visoreds, minus Ichigo and Mashiro who were asleep, sat around the TV in a very bored fashion. Hiyori was watching that weird magic girl show again and Lisa had apparently gotten fond of it as well. Shinji still had that weird feeling running down his spine. He couldn't place what felt wrong, everything did. It felt like someone was breathing down his neck but that was ridiculous. Hachi would be informed the instant one of the barriers was broken. Shinji was still worried though. His instincts had almost never been wrong and right now they were screaming that something was wrong, very wrong. Feeling the need to put his worry to rest, Shinji got off the couch and wandered around their large home, checking each room for anything abnormal, including spiritual pressure. As he thought, all was normal in each room he had visited, including the bedrooms on the second floor. Shinji crept along the first floor hall, checking each room he came across before stopping at Ichigo's temporary room. He quietly opened the door to the room and examined it.

Like the other rooms there wasn't much. A bed, a small shelf and a lamp. The eleven year old was sound asleep in the bed, his arm hanging over the side and the blanket pushed away from his upper body. Shinji had to admit that for all the scowling the kid did he was pretty cute with a laxed face. Then again Shinji also knew he was just a brat and crossed the room to fix the blanket so it covered the boy's back. Shinji felt the chill again. Something was wrong here. He looked around the room again. Nothing but a bunch of-

One thing caught Shinji's eye. In the corner of the room next to Ichigo's bed was a sword. Shinji picked it up. It wasn't Zangetsu, it was a regular, sheathed katana with a blue crossed hilt. Looking at it again, Shinji recognized the hilt and energy radiating off the weapon.  _Shit!_ he thought and turned around just to see the one person he hated most.

"Aizen."

Shinji spat the name like it disgusted him, which it did.

Sosuke Aizen stood in the door frame of the room, a smile on his lips and his eyes cold behind a fake pair of glasses. He wasn't wearing his captains haori, merely a shinigami shihakusho. Shinji saw his zanpakuto was attached to his hip and not in Shinji's hand.

"I'm guessing this is just some stupid illusion, eh?"

Aizen nodded, "You always were smarter than I gave you credit for, Hirako-taichou."

"That's because you're still a creep. What are you doing in some little kids room?"

"I merely wanted the chance to talk with you. I assure you the child has no part in this."

Shinji stepped between Aizen and the still sleeping boy anyway. "Yeah right. You came all this way, set up some freaky-ass illusion just ta talk to little old me? You could have just called."

"This is more of a private conversation." Aizen took a step into the room. Shinji wanted nothing more than to grab Ichigo and bust down a wall and leave, but if this really was just an illusion and Aizen really did just want to talk, then there was no way Ichigo wouldn't think something was up. Hell, Shinji would bet his worth in gold that Ichimaru was here somewhere, hidden under Aizen's power.

He had to play it cool. "Then spit it out already. If I'm gone any longer the others will know somethin's up."

"Unless you returned three minutes ago and are currently sitting next to Hiyori-san."

Shinji glared at the brunette. "What the hell do you want Aizen?!"

The captain put a finger to his lips and hushed, "I wouldn't raise my voice Hirako-taichou. My illusion only affects those who have seen my Suigetsu's shikai. You wouldn't want to wake up Kurosaki-kun, would you? I'm sure he would find it odd that you are yelling at nothing."

_Damn it._ Shinji made sure to control his voice. "If you touch him I swear-"

"You will kill me? Tell me Hirako-taichou, what interest would I have in a human child? His parents showed no real potential so what power could this boy possibly possess that would make him interesting."

_'He's tempting you,'_ Sakande spoke in Shinji's mind. ' _Calm down moron. He is only an illusion.'_

Shinji gathered his breath and calmed himself. "And here I thought you were here to talk about me. Sure you're not a little curious? Or were ya saving all your questions for after the date?"

Aizen looked only slightly amused, "I wanted to ask you, Hirako-taichou, if you were comfortable with your lives here in the World of the Living."

Shinji 'tsked', "If that's all ya wanted to know you're really wastin' your time. Why the hell would you care 'bout our living conditions, huh? Unless you were thinking about finding a summer home. They puttin' ya into an early retirement already?"

To Shinji, it looked like Aizen wanted to laugh. "On the contrary, I would have thought my question would have set off some form of alarm in you. Did you even wonder, Hirako-taichou, how I knew where to find you and the others?"

Alarms went off in Shinji's mind. Why hadn't that been the first thing he thought of? Aizen knew exactly where they were, how to find them and what they were doing. Hell, he even knew their own home like it was his own.

"We can continue our conversation, Hirako-taichou, though I believe the others are a tad busy at the moment. Tousen can be very impatient sometimes." Aizen began to fade away, a smile still on his face. "I'll meet you in the living room." and he was gone. Shinji was left wide-eyed in Ichigo's room, numb with what he had just heard. The spiritual energies hit him like a ton of bricks, and suddenly he was flashing to the living room all thoughts gone from his mind aside from the fear that Aizen and his bastard gang had come right down on top of them and they hadn't even noticed.

Shinji's fears were confirmed, when he saw both Aizen and Tosen, wearing their captain's haori like some kind of taunt, standing in the middle of his home. The other Visoreds were all in battle positions near the couch, mixes of anger and disbelief written on their faces. Each had their zanpakuto drawn and pointed at Aizen. Shinji glared at his ex-lieutenant. Aizen barely recognized his arrival.

"Glad you could join us, Hirako-taichou."

"So much for you just wanting to talk you little bastard." Shinji spat at him. He felt Hiyori's spiritual pressure rise as she glared at the brunette man.

"How the hell did you get in here?" she hissed, possibly at Hachi as well as Aizen.

"We walked," Aizen explained plainly.

"Bullshit. Hachigen would have felt if the barrier was broken."

"Once a kido barrier is broken, the caster will feel a small physical pain depending on the limb or body part they have attached the warning to," recited Aizen. "Is that what you mean?"

_Damn it. Physical pain._  Shinji cursed as he realized what Aizen meant. Hiyori seemed to realize as well.

Kensei got impatient and his energy rose as he glared at Tosen. "So what? You're just here to finish us off? Or were you expecting a tea party?"

"I believe I have already gone through this conversation with Hirako-taichou."

Shinji spat at the traitor, "Like you were making it so obvious. Chatting my ass. What's the real reason you're here, you asshole?"

Tosen raised his spiritual pressure enough so it seemed he would attack Shinji on the spot, only Aizen's raised hand kept him back.

"I'm looking for the location of Urahara Kisuke."

The bluntness of his answer nearly made Shinji's legs give out. "Why the hell do ya think we know where that bastard is?"

Shinji was really hoping Aizen would answer himself so he could sass talk him back, but fate was never on his side. Just as the words left Shinji's mouth, out from the hall walked an eleven year old, orange haired boy in a large t-shirt and pajama pants, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

_Damn it all!_

Ichigo held back a yawn as he continued to rub heavy sleep from his eyes, "Shinji what's going on?" Ichigo barely opened his eyes when a pale hand flew over his face, another grabbing his wrist in a death grip. Gin Ichimaru held one hand over the boy's eyes and restrained him with the other.

_Shit! Shit shit shit!_

Ichimaru smiled like the snake he was and pulled the boy close to himself, using Ichigo's hand to wave at Aizen.

Aizen returned his gaze to the Visoreds. "The reason I believe you know Urahara's location, Hirako-taichou, is because you seem to be housing his ward. Normally I'm not one to use a hostage but I am on a tight schedule right now. So, if you would please tell me Urahara's location?"

Hiyori's spiritual pressure was spiking, like Kensei's and Loves and his own. He could see Ichigo shaking, the terrible feeling of Ichimaru's own energy would terrify anyone who was not used to it. The kid had no idea what was happening and had walked right into a trap. Most likely he had woken up from all the spikes in spiritual energy and, as any curious eleven year old would, got up to see what was going on. Now there was a chance he would either die in seconds, or be taken away and held prisoner. All because Urahara had decided that Ichigo would be fine if he stayed with the Visoreds instead of tagging along with his guardians.

Aizen watched them patiently, like he had all the time in the world for them to stand there and watch as Ichimaru threatened them with Ichigo's life. No way was Ichigo going to come out of this. Aizen knew about the kids potential and was never one to miss an opportunity. Aizen was not sympathetic. Neither was Ichimaru. Neither of them would hesitate to kill Ichigo on the spot is necessary. Tosen maybe, with his warped sense of justice and a possible chance he would realize that Ichigo was completely innocent.

Ichimaru waved Ichigo's hand again, "Tick tock. Tick tock. Better hurry up, it's past Ichi-kun's bedtime." Ichigo whimpered as the grip on his arm tightens painfully.

"Shinji," Lisa hissed at him. "Tell him."

Kensei's jaw was tight, "She's right. That ass isn't worth it if it means Kurosaki gets killed."

The truth was that Kisuke had been very vague on the subject of his location. The most Shinji got out of him was somewhere near the ocean, near some tiny village in the north of Japan. not even a name of the village or a nearby town.  _Damn him,_  Shinji cursed in his mind. Why did Aizen have to pick now to try to kill Kisuke?!


	3. Sowing Doubt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! Thanks for sticking around to find out how this ends! I hope you like it!

Ichigo woke up to an earthquake.

Or at least, that's what it felt like. The sudden rise in pressure (he wasn't sure if it was spiritual or not) was startling enough to throw Ichigo from his bed. Thankfully he didn't hit his head on the concrete, but he did bruise his knee. Ow.

It took longer to stand up than Ichigo meant. He felt like he'd been dumped into a vat of molasses; he felt slow and weighed down. He gave himself a moment to adjust to the pressure, and glared at the door.

"What are they doing out there?" What the heck were the Visoreds doing? Ichigo didn't hear any commotion, which wouldn't be weird if the spiritual pressure wasn't so heavy. Normally the Visoreds were quiet, or their version of quiet at least, after Ichigo had gone to bed. The fact that he couldn't hear any faint yelling or the quiet sound of Shinji being thrown at the wall was... Alarming, actually.

Ichigo pushed himself off the ground and moved, slowly, to the bedroom door. The moment he stepped out into the hall, the pressure seemed to increase, nearly sending Ichigo back to the floor. He gripped the door to hold himself up, scowling darkly down the hall towards the living room. The adults had  _ no _ reason to be releasing so much damn spiritual power this late at night. Ichigo had school tomorrow damn it!

Forcing himself towards the living room Ichigo caught sight of Mashiro, perfectly still against the wall with a crease on her brow. Ichigo actually stopped. He'd never seen Mashiro look angry before, she was too goofy and playful to ever be upset. But there she was, straight backed against the wall with a look of fury in her eyes and her hands clenched into fists. Ichigo was almost scared of her.

“Mashiro?” he called out. “What’s going on?” He leaned against the wall as he got beside her, peering around her to look into the living room. There, the Visoreds stood in front of the couch with their zanpakuto’s drawn, faces matching Mashiro’s in anger as they glared at the wall.

This night could not get any weirder.

Ichigo turned, grunting under the pressure, to Mashiro. “What are you doing, Mashiro? It’s just a wall. What the heck is wrong with you guys?”

Mashiro completely ignored him. She didn’t even react when he tugs on her arm.

“ **_Let’s wack her. Maybe that’ll get her attention_ ** ”

“I’m not going to hit Mashiro when something’s wrong with her,” Ichigo chastised his hollow. “For all we know she’s on drugs or seeing something I don’t.”

“That is a very astute observation, young man.”

Ichigo nearly screamed in surprise at the sudden comment, and jumped forward beside Mashiro to face whomever the heck just snuck up on him. Not three feet from Mashiro stood a tall man with thrown back brown hair in strange white and black clothing. At his hip, attached to a weird and heavy looking belt, was a sword. A zanpakuto. And despite the calm smile on the man’s mouth, Ichigo, his hollow and Zangetsu as well, got the feeling of imminent danger.

"Who-?"

"I'm an old friend of Urahara-san. I wanted to ask if you knew where he had gone to," the man said.

Ichigo did not like this man. He was definitely part not of the Court Guard, because as far as Ichigo knew only Ukitake-san knew about Urahara (he had a terrible thought about the two shinigami officers that had shown up with the captain not two days ago), and the Court Guard wore black clothes, not white. All of Ichigo's instincts were telling him to run but he couldn't move. He felt pressure surround him, restrain him and keep him in place in front of the stranger. Ichigo looked at Mashiro, hoping that she'd snapped out of whatever funk she was in, to no such luck. She was as still as a statue. She hadn't even noticed the stranger behind her.

Ichigo swallowed his fear, "I... I don't know where he is. What did you do to my friends?"

The man sighed with disappointment. "I supposed they kept that from you as well. Oh well... Your friends are alright, Kurosaki-san. I've placed a spell on them to keep them distracted from our conversation. I was curious to meet the ward of my old captain's friend, and I must say I am very impressed that you're still conscious. Not many shinigami would be able to withstand this much spiritual energy."

As the man said finished speaking the pressure around Ichigo let up, and Ichigo found himself able to breath and move without effort. He looked at Mashiro, still unseeing, than at the man. "So, they're just under a spell? You're not going to hurt them, right?"

"Your friends are perfectly safe. I assure you."

"You just wanted to meet me? Couldn't you have just come to Urahara's shop to do that? You're not Court Guard, so he wouldn't care if you showed up."

The stranger seemed amused by something Ichigo said. "I may not be Court Guard but I do not think your guardian would appreciate having me show up at his shop unannounced. We have a very poor relationship. Which is likely why he'll never tell you about me. So I must as you that do not tell him or Hirako-san about this conversation."

Ichigo stepped back as the man took a step forward. "Why? What makes you think I won't tell them?"

The man smiled, and suddenly there was a hand in Ichigo's face. "You're a smart boy, Ichigo-kun. I think you'll understand why."

Ichigo black out.

* * *

"SON OF A BITCH!"

Hiyori stabbed her zanpakuto into the concrete and pulled on her hair. "How many times is this bastard going to mess with us!?"

Aizen and his posse had been fakes. All of them. Shinji glared hatefully at the spot the illusion Aizen had been standing in, wondering why his bastard of an ex-lieutenant had even bothered to fake his visit if he wasn't going to stick around to even get an answer. Aizen and his illusionary lackies had vanished only seconds before Shinji could tell him where Urahara was. That couldn't have been Aizen's only reason to show himself, fake or not. There had to be another reason...

"Shinji wha-" Lisa started just as Shinji took off. He passed by Mashiro, who was sat on the ground looking relieved, and did not stop until he was in front of Ichigo's room. He kicked open the (closed) door and was greeted by the sight of a sleeping eleven year old, still tucked snugly in bed. Shinji let loose a breath he hadn't know he was holding before walking to the bed's side. Ichigo had turned over to face the wall, snuggling the blanket closely. Ichigo hadn't woken up, he'd been here, safe and sound in his room the entire time.

Shinji almost collapsed in relief.

He flashed back to the living room, "I'm calling Urahara and telling him to get his ass back here."

They all nodded in agreement as Shinji pulled out the cell phone.

"How's the kid?" Love asked.

"Sleeping. It's a miracle he didn't wake up." Shinji looked around at the Visoreds, "No one mentions any of this to him. We don't need him getting involved any more than he already is. We tell Urahara what Aizen showed us, and get him to reinforce whatever cloaking spell shit he's got on Ichigo."

"Tell him he's not allowed to leave his kid here anymore! He's gotta take him along from now on!" Hiyori yelled as Shinji dialed the number.

Kisuke and Yoruichi were back within a few hours.

* * *

Ichigo hadn't noticed it before, but everyone lied to him.

Kisuke had lied when he told Ichigo that only Ukitake-san and Unohana-san knew about him. The stranger knew Kisuke, he'd called them friends, but Ichigo knew for a fact that Kisuke had never once mentioned a 'friend' outside of the Visoreds. Yoruichi never corrected him, so either she didn't know the stranger or she was also lying. The latter made more sense. Yoruichi was a good liar.

Shinji and the other Visoreds were also liars. They never mentioned the stranger from the night he'd visited and acted like everything was perfectly normal. They'd lied to him about why he couldn't stay nights at the hideout anymore and why Kisuke had returned early from his trip. Even Hachi had lied to him. They refused to bring up the fact that a stranger had made it past Hachigen's barrier, refused to tell Ichigo anything about what they did before coming to Karakura. Ichigo knew that one of them (Love or Kensei maybe?) had been a captain, so they, and by extension Kisuke, must have been part of the Court Guard.

The fact that Ichigo had to find out about all of this through some stranger just emphasized how little Ichigo really knew any of them.

It hurt.

These were the people he lived with. His legal guardians and teachers. People that might as well be his family. Even the shinigami had lied when they said they would keep Urahara a secret. Either Ukitake-san or the officers, or maybe all three, had gone behind Kisuke's back and told the stranger where they lived. It was their fault that the stranger, ex-Court Guard or Kisuke's friend or whatever, had broken into the warehouse.

He understood now why the stranger was so sure Ichigo wouldn't tell Urahara or the Visoreds about him. If they were going to keep so many secrets from him, than it was only fair he keep a few from them.

Ichigo was pretty good at hiding it from the adults. He still played with Mashiro and went to school and did his chores around the shop as he normally did. He didn't tell Kisuke or Yoruichi what the stranger had said to him. He didn't say anything to Hiyori when he finally created a cero an accidentally blasted a hole in the wall. The only people he actually wanted to tell were his friends, but they wouldn't understand. They didn't know about the Visoreds or shinigami or even hollows. So Ichigo had to keep it to himself.

He wondered a couple times if the stranger would ever come back. He hoped not. Ichigo was certain that most of the pressure was from him. He'd had enough control of it to basically trap Ichigo and hold him in place. He'd gotten past Hachigen's kido barrier, and cast a spell strong enough to stop all of the Visoreds from noticing him or Ichigo. Ichigo didn't want to find out what else the man could do.

Hopefully Ichigo would never see the stranger again.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing Aizen is fun. Setting up AU's I don't plan expanding on is even more fun. Getting comments is more fun than Six Flags and Wonderland and Universal combined.
> 
> So that's the end! Comments or questioned are welcomed as always!  
> I hope you enjoyed it!

**Author's Note:**

> Rereading my old fanfictions gets me feeling so nostalgic.
> 
> This chapter was literally to just introduce the world this AU takes place in


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